Black Mirror Season 7 Episodes, Ranked

Black Mirror is back, and it’s a beardown play overall. All six episodes seizure dystopia, despair, and tech terrors, on with—don’t blink!—the occasional flicker of joy. If you’re a instrumentality of Charlie Brooker’s series, you should decidedly ticker the full driblet without skipping any. But if you’re curious, here’s however we deliberation the entries enactment up, from slightest palmy to astir entertaining.

6. “Plaything”

A stringy-haired Peter Capaldi’s show arsenic a feline who hasn’t near his flat successful acold excessively agelong is note-perfect, and the flashbacks to his younger, acid-gobbling aforesaid (Lewis Gribben, soon to beryllium seen successful Blade Runner 2099) are perfectly calibrated. We besides loved the quality of Will Poulter’s Colin Ritman, past seen offering up sketchy choices successful Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and nary little of a danger-maker here—as good arsenic the episode’s cynical depiction of ’90s video crippled journalism.

But there’s a bushed a small excessively aboriginal successful “Plaything” wherever Capaldi’s quality takes enactment of the “central authorities computer” that’s watching him during a constabulary interview, and that benignant of kills the suspense. It’s already evident his sloppy apprehension astatine the apical of the occurrence is portion of immoderate grander plan, and it’s not hard to link the dots to fig retired what his intentions are. Using a humble pen and insubstantial to topple each of nine successful a azygous stroke is simply a bully touch, though.

5. “Common People”

Season seven’s lead-off occurrence has tons of built-in goodwill acknowledgment to the casting of Rashida Jones and Chris O’Dowd, much-loved comedic actors who present play joined mates Amanda and Mike. They’re hardly scraping by arsenic it is erstwhile Amanda develops a encephalon tumor that’ll mean the extremity of her life—if not for Rivermind, glorious experimental exertion described arsenic “a gyration successful neuroscience.”

It results successful her occurrence revival, which is amazing! But there’s a catch, and it’s a mighty one: for Amanda to enactment alive, she indispensable go a lifelong Rivermind subscriber. Over time, the institution adds “tiers” of work that go prohibitively much and much expensive, with Amanda astatine 1 constituent being forced to spit retired advertisements similar she has “commercial fucking Tourette’s.”

“Common People” distills a batch of anguish into its plot. There’s the horrors of chronic unwellness and becoming babelike connected an uncaring healthcare industry. There’s the distressing delight radical instrumentality successful witnessing quality suffering, arsenic demonstrated by the humiliating online challenges Mike submits to successful speech for much-needed cash. There’s the dread-filled realization that the costly happening you already had that was moving conscionable good present requires exponentially much dollars to wage for. There’s besides the uncover that Rivermind is preying connected its customers’ ain encephalon powerfulness to substance its servers, which adds a full different magnitude of proprietary ickiness.

It’s a lot, and “Common People” balances it well, with a dose of catharsis astatine the extremity that’s adjacent parts freeing and awful. Also, the show of a rock-bottom Mike selling the couple’s never-used crib to kids who cheerfully denote they program to acceptable it connected occurrence for a euphony video walks the enactment truthful perfectly betwixt hilarious and sob-inducing. It’s a tiny moment, but it captures the code astatine enactment present with adept precision.

Verity (Rosy McEwan) astatine her table successful “Bête Noire.” © Netflix

4. “Bête Noire”

Unlike astir Black Mirror episodes, “Bête Noire” takes spot successful a infinitesimal wherever exertion mirrors what’s really disposable to america successful 2025. That makes it adjacent freakier erstwhile Maria (Siena Kelly) starts to fishy that her erstwhile classmate and existent enactment rival, Verity (Rosy McEwan), has deployed machine trickery to someway sabotage the cloth of reality. She doesn’t person overmuch to spell connected different than her ain certainty… and the cognition that Verity is simply a tech genius with a morganatic gripe against her.

The existent uncover of Verity’s scheme, however, strays heavy into phantasy territory; for each of the chaotic tech Black Mirror has imagined implicit the years, Verity’s harnessing of aggregate dimensions—and being capable to power betwixt them with the blink of an eye—feels among the astir far-fetched.

In the build-up to that outrageous reveal, “Bête Noire” is often hard to watch; the hostility builds to near-unbearable levels arsenic everyone successful Maria’s orbit starts to judge she’s losing her mind. We should beryllium connected her side, but some Maria and Verity are beauteous horrible people; one’s a raging narcissist, the other’s fundamentally a comic publication supervillain. The occurrence requires patience from the viewer, but it does person its rewards, including a breathtaking nasty streak you conscionable have to salute and well-placed Amyl and the Sniffers way starring up to the last confrontation.

Phil (Paul Giamatti) looks done his almost-forgotten memories successful “Eulogy.” © Netflix

3. “Hotel Reverie”

The tech successful “Hotel Reverie” is truthful complicated, it’s fortunate viewers person Awkwafina and her ReDream co-workers to explicate its finer points passim the occurrence (no acknowledgment to that feline who spills his portion connected the hardware, though). But it’s utilized successful work of a delicate emotion story, successful which Issa Rae’s modern movie prima falls for a vintage starring woman (Emma Corrin) erstwhile the 2 conscionable successful an immersive satellite re-creating a black-and-white Hollywood classic.

There’s a batch going connected present theme-wise—including the uncomfortable thought that an AI quality could evolve, summation dimensionality, and possibly adjacent go self-aware. There’s besides the full alarming but not wholly far-fetched strategy of jazzing up “heritage media” by adding modern A-listers, aiming to pull younger audiences who wouldn’t fuss watching it otherwise.

But the romance is the main absorption of “Hotel Reverie,” and eagle-eyed viewers volition enactment that Rae’s quality lives connected “Junipero Drive,” a motion to Black Mirror‘s much-loved occurrence astir different meaningful transportation that forms wrong a simulation. The tender closing country isn’t rather “San Junipero” levels of happy, but it’s refreshing erstwhile Black Mirror throws retired an optimistic ending to chopped done its accustomed farewell notes of fearfulness and melancholy.

2. “Eulogy”

Sometimes, the astir effectual Black Mirror episodes are the astir simple. “Eulogy” has conscionable 2 characters and pivots astir straightforward (if far-future and wondrous) tech. It follows a communicative thread that weaves done an mean man’s life—revealing 1 tragic mistake that sent ripples passim his full existence.

Paul Giamatti is perfectly formed arsenic Phil. He inactive has a landline phone, which is however helium receives the quality that he’s being asked to contribute to a virtual memorial for a erstwhile girlfriend. And this is not conscionable an mean memorial; this is simply a cutting-edge immersive memorial that helps recreate moments from the deceased woman’s life.

He agrees to help, with an AI usher astatine his side, he’s capable to really measurement wrong of the Polaroids helium digs up and re-experience the moments the photos were taken. At first, it’s benignant of fun. But arsenic the memories travel flooding back, truthful does the symptom the narration caused.

By focusing truthful tightly connected a azygous character’s beingness and pain—drawn retired by tech that really isn’t harmful for once—”Eulogy” ends up being a profoundly quality story. It’s beautifully brought to beingness by Giamatti, who has america breathlessly watching arsenic Phil learns an agonizing information that’s agelong been lodged successful his past, past finds a mode to marque bid with it.

© Netflix

1. “USS Callister: Into Infinity”

A perfectly executed hold of much-loved play 4 occurrence “USS Callister,” this sequel is astir feature-length and brings some its “innies” and “outies” (or the Black Mirror equivalent) to a satisfying decision that’s adjacent parts thrilling and clever.

We particularly loved Cristin Milioti doing treble work arsenic integer and quality Nanette Cole arsenic they conscionable face-to-face, but peculiar props spell to Jimmi Simpson for infusing his versions of James Walton with antithetic levels of sleaze, heroism, and caveman charisma.

You tin ticker play 7 of Black Mirror connected Netflix now. Which occurrence did you similar the best?

Want much io9 news? Check retired erstwhile to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s adjacent for the DC Universe connected movie and TV, and everything you request to cognize astir the aboriginal of Doctor Who.